Nessa Admin
Number of posts : 7028 Age : 111 Life : Points : Mood : Registration date : 2007-07-20
| Subject: Armless, one-legged driver sentenced to prison Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:19 am | |
| A man with no arms and one leg who wouldn't stop driving despite a long list of traffic violations was sentenced to five years in prison Friday on felony driving and drug charges.
Michael Francis Wiley, 40, also was sentenced to 15 years of drug offender probation. He pleaded no contest in June to the charges.
"I'd just like to say I know what I did was wrong," Wiley said in court Friday. "I am truly sorry, your honor. I am."
Wiley taught himself to drive after losing both arms and a leg in an electrical accident when he was 13. He has already spent more than three years in prison for habitually driving without a license, kicking a state trooper and other charges.
He once had a valid license, but it has been suspended several times since 1985, according to his attorney. He starts the car with his toes, shifts with his knee and steers with the stump of his left arm. He turns on the lights with his teeth.
In his most recent brush with the law last May, Wiley sped off in a Ford Explorer when police approached him at a convenience store, officials said. Officers pursued but called off the chase after eight minutes because they did not want to put others in danger, police said.
Defense attorney John Hooker pleaded for leniency and the minimum sentence of 2 1/2 years. He cited his client's need for treatment for his many physical and mental health problems, including anxiety, panic attacks, depression and a pain disorder related to his amputations.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Wiley said he's done driving.
"I'm beat. The white flag is up," he said. "You can only bang your head against the wall so long before it hurts."
5 yrs in prison & 10 yrs probation | |
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valhalla Banned
Number of posts : 1456 Age : 37 Location : the underworld Points : Registration date : 2007-08-03
| Subject: Re: Armless, one-legged driver sentenced to prison Sat Aug 04, 2007 9:06 am | |
| not sure what i'd make of it. yes, i can understand the offences, and all that, i just feel sorry for him. someone like that deserves better | |
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Nessa Admin
Number of posts : 7028 Age : 111 Life : Points : Mood : Registration date : 2007-07-20
| Subject: Re: Armless, one-legged driver sentenced to prison Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:02 pm | |
| I kind of agree with you, But then again..Just having him on the road is a hazard to everyone driving. I mean he went out on his drug runs, driving as best he could but still, even previous warning couldn't keep him off the road. 5 yrs seems a lil steep to me personally tho. | |
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valhalla Banned
Number of posts : 1456 Age : 37 Location : the underworld Points : Registration date : 2007-08-03
| Subject: Re: Armless, one-legged driver sentenced to prison Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:05 pm | |
| yes. 5 years is a bit to much | |
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Nessa Admin
Number of posts : 7028 Age : 111 Life : Points : Mood : Registration date : 2007-07-20
| Subject: Re: Armless, one-legged driver sentenced to prison Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:15 pm | |
| Yea but with any luck he'll only have to serve 2.5 yrs in prison and the rest probation to keep him off the streets in the future. I wonder if he had prostetic [sp?] arms and or legs would they still be treating him like a danger on the road? Hmm..makes me wonder | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Armless, one-legged driver sentenced to prison Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:32 pm | |
| It doesn't sound like he got into accidents. It just sounds like he's an habitual driving-while-suspended offender. |
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| Subject: Re: Armless, one-legged driver sentenced to prison | |
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